CDC website posts provisional recommendations for prevention and control of
influenza in 2008-09

On March 25, CDC posted "ACIP Provisional
Recommendations for the Prevention and Control of Influenza" for the 2008-09
influenza season. Provisional recommendations are those ACIP has voted on but
that are not yet approved by CDC or the Department of Health and Human
Services and not yet published in MMWR. Once the influenza recommendations
are approved, they are tentatively scheduled for MMWR publication in June
2008. Portions of the provisional recommendations are reprinted below.

Annual vaccination for all children aged 6 months through 18
years is recommended. Annual vaccination of children aged 6
months up to their fifth birthday (through 59 months of age)
should continue. If feasible, annual vaccination of all children
aged 5 years through 18 years should begin in 2008 when the
vaccine for the 2008-2009 influenza season becomes available.

Annual vaccination for all children aged 6 months through 18
years should begin no later than during the 2009-2010 influenza
season.

Persons at higher risk of influenza complications because of
underlying medical conditions, children aged 6 months through 23
months, and persons aged >49 years should receive TIV. Either
trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) or live,
attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) should be used when
vaccinating persons aged 2 through 49 years who do not have
medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza
complications.

Children aged 6 months through 8 years should receive two
doses of influenza vaccine (doses separated by >=4 weeks) if
they have not been vaccinated previously at any time with at
least one dose of either LAIV or TIV.

Clinicians and immunization program staff should screen for
possible reactive airway disease when considering use of LAIV
for children aged 2 through 4 years, and should avoid use of
this vaccine in children with asthma or a recent wheezing
episode. The ACIP has previously provided recommendations on
screening for possible reactive airway disease in children aged
2 through 4 years
(http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5646a4.htm). . . .

IAC recently mailed the latest issue of Vaccinate
Adults (March
2008) to 150,000 adult medicine specialists and others who work
in the field of immunization. Packed with immunization and
hepatitis resources, the 12-page issue is well worth
downloading. All articles and education pieces, except
editorials, have been reviewed by immunization and hepatitis
experts at CDC.

You can view selected articles from the table of contents below
or download the entire issue from the Web.

CDC responds to recent vaccine court case with an op-ed article in the
Atlanta Journal Constitution

On March 26, the Atlanta Journal Constitution
published an op-ed
article written by NCIRD's director, Anne Schuchat, MD. Titled
"Vaccines' Benefits Outweigh Dangers: Autism claim shouldn't
deter parents," the article states that since 1988, the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has provided compensation in
about 2,100 cases. In no case was autism determined to be caused
by a vaccine. During the same time frame, about 100 million U.S.
children received recommended childhood immunizations.

Dr. Paul Offit's teleconference on issues related to recent media coverage of
vaccine safety is available for downloading

On March 14, Dr. Paul Offit spoke on a
teleconference sponsored
by the Pennsylvania chapter of AAP. Dr. Offit (1) described the
weight of research on causes of autism, (2) summarized research
on whether thimerosal or MMR vaccine cause autism, (3) described
the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), (4)
summarized the recent Poling VICP case and media coverage, and
(5) described ways to address parents' vaccine concerns, in
particular, requests for an extended vaccine schedule using
individual antigens. Dr. Offit presented for approximately 25
minutes and answered about 15 minutes of caller questions.

Dr. Offit is chief of Infectious Diseases and director of the
Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

CDC published "Errata: Vol 57, No.1" in the March
28 issue of
MMWR. The errata concern "Recommended Immunization Schedules for
Persons Aged 0-18 Years--United States, 2008," which were
published on January 11 as an MMWR QuickGuide. The errata are
reprinted below in their entirety.

CDC revises its interactive immunization scheduler for children age 6 years
and younger

On March 25, the NCIRD website posted an updated
interactive
Childhood Immunization Scheduler for children age 6 years and
younger. It is based on the 2008 Childhood and Adolescent
Immunization Schedule.

Parents who use the interactive scheduler are cautioned that the
information it contains may not be accurate for a child who has
a condition that affects the immune system. Parents are also
encouraged to consult a clinician for advice on their child's
immunization needs.

Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, MD, and Karen Y.
Wainwright, RN, recently made minor changes to their patient-education piece
"You are not alone! Information for young adults who are chronically infected
with hepatitis B virus."

Important: Be sure to give influenza vaccine throughout the influenza
season--from now through spring

Influenza is currently circulating, and
vaccination should
continue from now through May. Visit the following websites
often to find the information you need to keep vaccinating. Both
are continually updated with the latest resources.

On March 26, CDC's Travelers' Health web section
announced that
yellow fever vaccine is now available in single-dose vials. In
the recent past, there was a temporary shortage of the vaccine
in the single-dose presentation. Portions of the March 26
announcement are reprinted below.

In March 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) was informed by sanofi pasteur, the only manufacturer of
U.S. yellow fever vaccine, that the single-dose vials of yellow
fever vaccine, YF-VAX, are now available. Limitations on orders
will be in place as sanofi pasteur works to build inventory of
the single-dose vials.

In the interim, the 5-dose vials of YF-VAX continue to be
available in sufficient supply. To accommodate all travelers who
need this vaccine, clinics administering vaccine are advised to
attempt to schedule vaccinations to efficiently use the 5-dose
vials.

According to the manufacturer's package insert, YF-VAX must be
used within one hour of reconstitution. . . .

For Further Information
Contact telephone number for sanofi pasteur ([800] 822-2463).

Please visit the Travelers' Health website
[http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel] for further updates on availability
of yellow fever vaccine.

For coalitions: IZTA's April 10 teleconference to focus on working with the
media to promote facts about vaccine safety

The Immunization Coalitions Technical Assistance
Network (IZTA)
April 10 conference call is titled "Misperceptions, Raw
Emotions, Potent Strategies: Working with Traditional and New
Media to Promote the Facts about Vaccine Safety." IZTA is a
program of the Center for Health Communication, Academy for
Educational Development.

The April 10 call will be held at 2PM, ET. To register, send an
email to izta@aed.org Include this message: "Sign me up for the
promoting vaccine safety call."

Vaccine Safety Working Group meeting scheduled for April 11 in Washington,
DC; the public is invited to attend

The Federal Register for March 24 included an
announcement of
the April 11 meeting of the Vaccine Safety Working Group of the
National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC). The meeting, which
is open to the public, is planned for Washington, DC. Pre-registration is required for both public attendance and
comment. Any individual who wishes to attend the meeting and/or
participate in the public comment session should contact the
designated staff member, Daniel Salmon, by email at
daniel.salmon@hhs.gov or call him at (202) 690-5566.

To access the announcement, as well as background information on
the Immunization Safety Office Scientific Agenda, go to:
http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/iso/agenda.htm The announcement
is located in the section titled "Who will review the ISO
Scientific Agenda." Click on the link titled "meeting" for the
announcement.

MMWR reports on progress made toward eradicating polio in Pakistan and
Afghanistan in 2007

CDC published "Progress Toward Poliomyelitis
Eradication--Pakistan and Afghanistan, 2007" in the March 28 issue of MMWR. A
portion of press summary of the article is reprinted below.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share borders in remote areas of both
countries with rugged terrain and constant population movements
across borders. In 2007, limited progress was made toward
interrupting wild poliovirus [WPV] transmission in Pakistan-Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, in August 2007 the support of
antigovernment groups was obtained, which increased access to
areas for vaccinators during immunization campaigns in the south
region. However, despite intensive efforts, both type 1 and type
3 wild poliovirus continue to circulate into 2008 in areas of
both countries. Access to children is limited by ongoing
conflicts and security concerns in remote border areas of both
countries. In other WPV-endemic areas of Pakistan, where
security and access concerns do not exist, operational problems
in implementing immunization activities resulted in inadequate
vaccination of children. Further progress will require
continued efforts for both issues.

This website is supported in part by a cooperative agreement from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (Grant No.
6NH23IP22550) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. The website content is the sole responsibility of IAC and does not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.